An Italian Summer Island – Sue Moorcroft | Book Review | #AnItalianSummerIsland | @SueMoorcroft @AvonBooksUK @rararesources

Will one summer in Sicily change her life for ever?

After her marriage falls apart, Ursula Quinn is offered the chance to spend the summer working at a hotel on a beautiful island off the coast of Sicily, Italy. Excited by a new adventure, she sets off at once.

At Residenza dei Tringali, Ursula receives a warm welcome from everyone except Alfio, son of the Tringali family. He gave up his life in Barcelona to help his mother Agata with the ailing business, and is frustrated with Ursula’s interference – and she in turn is less than impressed with his attitude. As they spend more time together, though, they begin to see each other in a different light.

But what with Ursula’s ex-husband on her tail, family secrets surfacing and an unexpected offer that makes Alfio question his whole life, there’s plenty to distract them from one another. Can she face her past and he his future, and together make the most of their Sicilian summer?

MY THOUGHTS

My thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources for the tour invite and to the publisher for the copy to review via Netgalley. Sue Moorcroft has appeared on this blog, both with author guest posts and my reviews of previous books so many times, using the index page or search bar will show all of these. An Italian Summer Island was published by Avon Books/Harper Collins on 25 May and is available in all formats.

An Italian Summer Island is a standalone although if you’re a fellow fan of Sue’s writing, you might recognise one or two characters. Ursula Quinn, last appeared in a supporting role in Under the Italian Sun. This time she has a starring role in her own story.

The story is mainly set on the island of Ortigia, Sicily, with short visits to Ireland. Having left Brighton after massive life changes, tattoo artist Ursula returns to the family home in Ireland and through some family machinations ends up in Italy assisting an Italian family at their hotel, Residenza dei Tringali. Agata Tringali the mother and her daughter Nanda are in desperate need of help following personal and health issues and Ursula also takes the chance to follow her dream to retrain as a ceramics maker, (another connection to Under the Italian Sun). Her arrival doesn’t please everyone however and the son of the family, Alfio, is rather put out after changing his own living arrangements in Barcelona to find that Ursula has made him surplus to requirements.

This is the cue for some drama, misunderstandings and romance that you would expect. Despite her happiness, life does not go smoothly for Ursula, her family is rather complicated and when secrets come to light, it threatens to destroy everything she has worked for. I did feel for Ursula, trying to put her past life behind her wasn’t easy as she had trust issues and it felt as though everyone she relied on let her down.

As ever with a Sue Moorcroft book, this isn’t just straightforward romantic fiction. There are other more concerning issues involved which give it depth and relevance. I love books set in Italy and although I’ve been to Sicily I haven’t been to this part and the location of Ortigia sounded wonderful with its harbour, cobbled streets, outdoor restaurants and cafés – and of course the food! One or two characters from the earlier book also make brief appearances and although you don’t need any prior knowledge to enjoy this one, I always welcome the chance to catch up with much loved characters.

A picturesque setting, engaging characters with a slow burn hot sizzling chemistry all make for a lovely story. Sue Moorcroft never disappoints and An Italian Summer Island was another thoroughly enjoyable read.

Sue Moorcroft is a Sunday Times bestselling author, #1 on Kindle UK and Top 100 on Kindle US and Canada. She writes two books a year for publishing giant HarperCollins and has won the Goldsboro Books Contemporary Novel of the Year, Readers’ Best Romantic Novel award and the Katie Fforde Bursary.

Her novels, short stories, serials, columns, writing ‘how to’ and courses appear around the world.

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